Post by Ely Teehankee on Nov 15, 2012 14:47:17 GMT
The first time I went to Bangkong Kahoy I met Dion Pullan. After spending a long time in Australia, he decided to come back and develop Bangkong Kahoy to preserve the environment and give the people there a means of livelihood. For several years he kept on doing this until a gentleman from Manila came and fell in love with the place. He leased a piece of land to put up his vacation house overlooking the forest. He bought the produce of BK which are fresh vegetables of the finest quality and gave his employees a chance to buy them at cost. He wanted to give the people there a chance to work. He built a 4 room lodge complete with Cable TV, wi-fi, fireplace and two queen size beds, with a porch overlooking a ravine covered with forest. He has just completed the construction of his restaurant that will cater to the lodge's guest and other visitors. He required all bird watchers and photographers to make use of the bird guides so that they too will have a chance to earn something extra. At his own expense he has started cementing portions of the road leading to BK to make it more accessible to visitors. Now he is building a trail so that people can see more birds in Mount Banahaw. This gentleman is a lawyer by profession and is doing something for the people there on his own because he cares for the place and the people there. He is Ramon Quisumbing who gives bonuses to the people there whenever they show him the nest of birds and protects them, any new bird he has not seen, and what ever reason to let them look forward to a brighter future. A man of few words but plenty of good deeds. Because of his entrepreneurship and incentives to the people of BK one can see more birds than ever before. Here are some of the birds that I saw.
Canon EOS 1D Mark IV, Canon EF 800mm f5.6L IS USM, Gitzo GT3530LS tripod, M-3.6 Mongoose Gimbal Action Head. Manual exposure in available light.
Brown Shrike (Lanius cristatus) 7 1/2 inches. Next to the Eurasian Tree Sparrow this would probably be the most common bird one would see during the migratory season. It has been said that there are more than a million of them during this time all over the Philippines.
1/125 sec., f/8, ISO 800
This is one of my favorite moments in bird photography. Catching a bird with food in its beak.
1/125 sec., f/5.6, ISO 1600
Yellowish White-eye (Zosterops nigrorum) 4 1/4 - 4 3/4 inches. A bird that you could expect to see in mixed flocks at altitude close to 1000 meters.
1/200 sec., f/5.6, ISO 1600
Mountain White-eye (Zosterops montanus) 4 1/4 inches. Similar to the Lowland White-eye but takes an expert to distinguish. I can't tell the difference except to call it by name according to the altitude you are located.
1/200 sec., f/5.6, ISO 1600
Buzzing Flowerpecker (Dicaeum hypoleucum) 3 1/2 inches. First time I saw this bird was at Banaue which takes about 10 hours to go there.
1/200 sec., f/5.6, ISO 1600
Mountain Verditer-Flycatcher (Eumyias panayensis) 5 1/2 inches. A lifer for me and this could be attributed to being in a hide. Somehow the birds do come nearer and more in numbers.
1/640 sec., f/5.6, ISO 3200
Narcissus Flycatcher (Ficedula narcissina) Female 5 1/4 inches. Rare in forest according to the KGB. I remember seeing one in Coron but it was under the canopy and almost straight up. This was a good catch for me. 11/16/12 Just got a message from Des. This could be a female Orange-bellied Flowerpecker.
1/250 sec., f/5.6, ISO 800
Buzzing Flowerpecker came closer as we were in a hide and not so conspicuous.
1/125 sec., f/5.6, ISO 800
Metallic-winged Sunbird (Aethopyga pulcherrima) Female 3 3/4 inches. Difficult to find but shows itself quite often at Mount Banahaw especially when you are inside a hide.
1/60 sec., f/5.6, ISO 800
Metallic-winged Sunbird were coming in more often when one is inside a hide. These mountain birds are a challenge to photograph because of their size and friskiness.
1/60 sec., f/5.6, ISO 800
Elegant Tit (Parus elegans) 4 1/2 inches. A bird with a titillating name and gives you a hard time to get a good capture on your CF card.
1/125 sec., f/5.6, ISO 800
Chestnut-faced Babbler (Stachyris whiteheadi) 5 3/4 inches. The first time and only time that I saw this bird was in Banaue. It comes with the bird flock at Mount Banahaw.
1/320 sec., f/5.6, ISO 800
Coppersmith Barbet (Megalaima haemacephala) 5 3/4 inches. Ramon & I were fortunate to see 3 of them at one time but it was backlighted and we use the back of the trunk to minimize the glare. Our pictures came out better than expected.
1/500 sec., f/5.6, ISO 800
Metallic-winged Sunbird Male
1/250 sec., f/5.6, ISO 800
Metallic-winged Sunbird Female
1/320 sec., f/5.6, ISO 800
Canon EOS 1D Mark IV, Canon EF 800mm f5.6L IS USM, Gitzo GT3530LS tripod, M-3.6 Mongoose Gimbal Action Head. Manual exposure in available light.
Brown Shrike (Lanius cristatus) 7 1/2 inches. Next to the Eurasian Tree Sparrow this would probably be the most common bird one would see during the migratory season. It has been said that there are more than a million of them during this time all over the Philippines.
1/125 sec., f/8, ISO 800
This is one of my favorite moments in bird photography. Catching a bird with food in its beak.
1/125 sec., f/5.6, ISO 1600
Yellowish White-eye (Zosterops nigrorum) 4 1/4 - 4 3/4 inches. A bird that you could expect to see in mixed flocks at altitude close to 1000 meters.
1/200 sec., f/5.6, ISO 1600
Mountain White-eye (Zosterops montanus) 4 1/4 inches. Similar to the Lowland White-eye but takes an expert to distinguish. I can't tell the difference except to call it by name according to the altitude you are located.
1/200 sec., f/5.6, ISO 1600
Buzzing Flowerpecker (Dicaeum hypoleucum) 3 1/2 inches. First time I saw this bird was at Banaue which takes about 10 hours to go there.
1/200 sec., f/5.6, ISO 1600
Mountain Verditer-Flycatcher (Eumyias panayensis) 5 1/2 inches. A lifer for me and this could be attributed to being in a hide. Somehow the birds do come nearer and more in numbers.
1/640 sec., f/5.6, ISO 3200
Narcissus Flycatcher (Ficedula narcissina) Female 5 1/4 inches. Rare in forest according to the KGB. I remember seeing one in Coron but it was under the canopy and almost straight up. This was a good catch for me. 11/16/12 Just got a message from Des. This could be a female Orange-bellied Flowerpecker.
1/250 sec., f/5.6, ISO 800
Buzzing Flowerpecker came closer as we were in a hide and not so conspicuous.
1/125 sec., f/5.6, ISO 800
Metallic-winged Sunbird (Aethopyga pulcherrima) Female 3 3/4 inches. Difficult to find but shows itself quite often at Mount Banahaw especially when you are inside a hide.
1/60 sec., f/5.6, ISO 800
Metallic-winged Sunbird were coming in more often when one is inside a hide. These mountain birds are a challenge to photograph because of their size and friskiness.
1/60 sec., f/5.6, ISO 800
Elegant Tit (Parus elegans) 4 1/2 inches. A bird with a titillating name and gives you a hard time to get a good capture on your CF card.
1/125 sec., f/5.6, ISO 800
Chestnut-faced Babbler (Stachyris whiteheadi) 5 3/4 inches. The first time and only time that I saw this bird was in Banaue. It comes with the bird flock at Mount Banahaw.
1/320 sec., f/5.6, ISO 800
Coppersmith Barbet (Megalaima haemacephala) 5 3/4 inches. Ramon & I were fortunate to see 3 of them at one time but it was backlighted and we use the back of the trunk to minimize the glare. Our pictures came out better than expected.
1/500 sec., f/5.6, ISO 800
Metallic-winged Sunbird Male
1/250 sec., f/5.6, ISO 800
Metallic-winged Sunbird Female
1/320 sec., f/5.6, ISO 800